Rassie Erasmus: Springboks will give ‘legal help’ to Jasper Wiese after ‘sad’ red card
Springboks number eight Jasper Wiese and head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus has given his verdict on Jasper Wiese’s sending off following their victory over Italy on Saturday.
The number eight was shown a straight red in the 22nd minute for headbutting Azzurri prop Danilo Fischetti.
South Africa were therefore reduced to 14 men for almost an hour with the 20-minute red card not used due to it being an act of foul play.
They could now be without Wiese for a lengthy period but Erasmus was not rushing to pass judgement on the back-rower, insisting that he will get their support.
‘Obviously, Jasper will have an opinion’
“We don’t know who is going to judge on how bad it was or how they will see it. Obviously, Jasper will have an opinion on what happened and why it got to the point that it happened,” he said.
“I’m not in a position now to judge whether it was right or wrong or how bad it was. Jasper must handle that now with our support as best as he can.
“He’s just so committed and passionate about the team, and then something like that happens. I know it would’ve been lovely for him to play alongside his brother (Cobus Wiese), and unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
“It’s sad. He’s not a guy who goes out to do things like that. I don’t want to say anything here that can make things better or worse because I’m not 100 percent sure how they (the disciplinary committee) will judge it or how they will take it forward.
“But we will give him all our support and all the legal help that we possibly can.”
Springboks: Rassie Erasmus left dumbfounded as Jasper Wiese sees red after mindless act
Andre Esterhuizen’s key role
When Wiese was red carded the Boks were only 10 points in front, but they responded superbly to that setback and claimed a dominant 45-0 triumph.
Erasmus puts that down to the presence of inside centre Andre Esterhuizen. The innovative Springboks boss believes that he can be used as a hybrid player, capable of playing in both the backline and the pack.
Esterhuizen has therefore been training for that while in camp and was duly utilised in that role following the number eight’s departure.
“I think it saved us in a big way. Not just taking a back off and putting a loose forward on, we could actually take Andre and on our ball put him at flank. It really worked out well for us,” Erasmus said.
“Evan [Roos] could go to eight and Marco [van Staden] could go to eight, and Andre could perform the six role. He knows how we maul, he knows how our lineout works.
“To be honest, when we planned that at the beginning, I didn’t think it would be for cards, but it worked out nicely for us.”
